Director Sifan Shao on Terre-Ville
On Watching, Listening and Understanding
I have become increasingly aware that something is missing from the world we live in today: our ability to listen to one another, to pay attention to one another, to truly give someone our attention.
This is something I have been trying to hold on to in my recent work. I don’t want to begin by telling the audience what to think, or by presenting a particular message or set of values.
I would rather invite people to experience something first, to feel something.
For me, understanding comes later. It begins to emerge only when we have truly seen someone, drawn closer to them, and been willing to stop for a moment.
And love, I think, is built on that understanding.
On Everyday Life and Theatrical Rhythm
Of course, this challenges conventional expectations of theatrical rhythm.
There are no major dramatic turns or heightened conflicts in Terre-Ville. Instead, the piece unfolds through ordinary situations, fragments that resemble memories.
I wanted these moments to be connected as naturally and truthfully as possible, like a ribbon of time slowly unfurling onstage, before the audience.
I also wanted the audience to feel able to settle into the theatre, to become still.
For the stage and the audience to keep each other company, and to direct their attention towards moments that are so easily overlooked in everyday life: a small gesture, a pause.
I have always felt that these moments and gestures deserve our attention. They deserve to be watched and experienced. They should not be overlooked.
On Restraint in Stage Technology
For me, stage technology is not there to draw attention to itself. It is there to accompany the performers and the audience, helping us focus on the moments that truly matter.
Restraint in the use of technology is not simply a formal choice. It must serve the central purpose of the work.
In Terre-Ville, I wanted the lighting, sound and video to respond to and accompany one another, just as performers do, rather than each element asserting itself independently.
If a technical element behaves like a performer who is not really performing with the others, however impressive it may be, it can disrupt the experience as a whole.
I am particularly grateful to our collaborators in lighting, sound and video. We went through many rounds of adjustments together, sometimes adding, sometimes taking things away, searching for a stage language that could be rich in detail while remaining restrained, and finding just the right balance.
For me, theatre is something alive.
Very often, it is only through the course of performances that we begin to discover what a production is meant to become.
So we will continue to make adjustments and explore new possibilities in response to what happens onstage and to the audience’s genuine reactions and experiences.
My hope is that audiences will feel both willing and able to enter, with a sense of ease, into these years in which a mother and daughter accompany one another and grow together.
Audience Voices
“What makes this production so profound is its reminder that a woman’s worth is never confined to her identity as a mother.”
“I hoped my child would recognise me in the play, and perhaps understand me better. I never imagined that a play could convey the weight of the word ‘mother’ with such emotional force.”
“The performer conveyed the mother’s inner feelings with remarkable sensitivity and truthfulness.”
“Through its remarkably delicate approach and innovative use of two camera perspectives, Terre-Ville reveals some of the most deeply hidden struggles of motherhood today.”
“The play portrays the restraint, repression, pain and struggles that a woman experiences after becoming a mother. It also shows how, as she accompanies her child through the years, she finds emotional connection, reconciliation with herself, and a gradually changing relationship with her daughter.”
“When the mother onstage began listing everyday tasks in her phone’s notes, my child suddenly whispered, ‘That’s just like you.’ My eyes filled with tears. Looking at her, I felt as though I were seeing my own past self onstage.”
“What moved me most was not only the mother’s struggle, but also the daughter’s journey towards adulthood. Her growth seems to mirror the years of her mother’s life that have been sacrificed. And when the mother finally watches her daughter leave, she turns back and sees the self she had forgotten for so many years.”
“The material comes from everyday life and returns to life itself, inviting empathy and reflection.”
“Terre-Ville is more than a play. It is a mirror reflecting the difficulties faced by women today, but also that small, persistent light that refuses to go out, even in the midst of those difficulties.”